Cannes 2015: Global-warming doc 'Ice and the Sky' to close festival

Luc Jacquet's environmental documentary 'Ice and the Sky' will close the Cannes Film Festival

Luc Jacquet's environmental documentary "Ice and the Sky" will close this year's Cannes Film Festival on May 24, organizers announced Thursday.

The film explores the scientific work of Claude Lorius, who began studying the Antarctic ice in 1957 and was one of the first to sound the alarm about global warming and its potential consequences for the planet. Lorius, now 82, participated in the film.

Jacquet is best known as the director of the Oscar-winning documentary "March of the Penguins."

"Cannes is a huge opportunity for this film and for what it says," the filmmaker said in a statement about "Ice and the Sky." He added, "Showing this film in the world's largest film festival is contributing to this huge challenge facing humanity as quickly as possible to secure its future and the future of the planet."

The Cannes Film Festival is scheduled run May 13-24, with Emmanuelle Bercot's coming-of-age drama "La Tete Haute" kicking off the proceedings.